Folk & Traditional / All styles

VDSQ (Vin Du Select Qualitite) is an acoustic guitar LP series curated by Steve Lowenthal of Swingset Magazine and Plastic Records. The series is released on high quality LP with letterpress sleeves, each with a picture of the guitar used to record the record. Track-by-track notes included on the back cover. 'The idea behind VDSQ was really to do a label that was a nod to the great guitar-oriented labels like Takoma and Transatlantic but focusing on contemporary artists rather than reissues…

Federico Garcia Lorca's popular folk song collection "Las Canciones Populares Espanolas" was banned under Franco's dictatorship and today the music survives but marginally within the Spanish sub-conscious. Taking their cue from Lorca and La Argentinita's infectious 1931 recording of the songs, Josephine Foster and her partner Spanish musician Victor Herrero have arranged the poetically rich collection for their new acoustic band, formed while living in the Grenadine Sierra. Anda Jaleo is the ban…

In the Djebala foothills of the Rif Mountains in northern Morocco is the ancient village of Jajouka. For hundreds of years music has poured out of that village, music by the world’s only “4000 year old rock band” (William Burroughs), the Master Musicians of Jajouka. For hundreds of years the Master Musicians were the musical group of choice for the princes of Morocco, but they were not heard outside their native soil.Fast forward to 1950, Morocco, free of French and Spanish colonialism, is…

"Hypnotic recording session with griot 'Ali' Ag Amoumine at his home in Timbouctou. Playing the distinctive style of Northern Mali and Niger known as Takamba, droning electrified traditional guitar accompanied by a haunting rhythm tapped on a calabash, Ali navigates a repertoire drawing on music learned on his travels and his own compositions. Comes with a bonus 7" of acoustic performances. Co-release with Sahel Sounds."

Reissued by Fledg'ling in 2005. First released in 1968, Large As Life And Twice As Natural is a tremendous acoustic-folk-blues-jazz masterpiece. As always with Davy Graham, the music seems to defy categorization. Perhaps the simplest description would be "great." On Large As Life And Twice As Natural, Davy is joined by the legendary Harold McNair on flute, Dick Heckstall-Smith on saxophone, Jon Hiseman on drums (both from Colosseum) and Danny Thompson (from Pentangle) on double bass. For this …

LP version. The music on this release consists of the earliest recordings by flautist T.R. Mahalingam, a legendary figure in the Carnatic music of South India, one of the world's great musical traditions. Mahalingam, known as "Mali" to his legions of fans and admirers, was a musician who revered these traditions yet opened new realms, raising the flute to levels of voice-like expressivity. Portrait Of A Prodigy: His Early Years, 1940-50s reissues, for the first time, recordings from the mid-…

"My mentor for mind liberty and overall follow-your-heart, and guitar maestro Robbie Basho has a new album. Well, not exactly, he’s been dead for 25 years, but about a month ago, the Smeraldina Rima label had reissued his brilliant 1984 release Twilight Peaks album.Little known upon its release on cassette only, TP quickly vanished into the great amnesia of the world, the reissue does a great justice to one of his truly great albums.The sound is full of reverb, huge like the mountains Basho was …

After a series of albums that were quite similar in their general style, one can sense something is afoot with this one. This would be a transitional album, however it would be the next one where Claudio Rocchi really started to throw a 'U-turn' at his fans, to use his own words. Here Rocchi, helped by members of the band Aktuala, would begin to pull the mystical, improvisational drone-folk back from the edges of space and reassert a more deliberate song structure here and there. We still have t…

Jewel of transcendental future music arising from the Jooklo's universe. Including some deep synthesizer's lines, charming flutes, ethnic winds and tenor saxophone's shimmers, besides a multitude of scattered shamanic percussions (bells, gongs, bongos, etc). This epic psychedelic free-form session dipped in a mystic vortex was recorded on a night of March 2008, and it's been resting in space until now. Ultra-limited run with silkscreened covers with metallic effects.

The grainy, haunted beauty of Jandek's early work went through many phases, never quite as varied and multi-faceted as the material on his 4th album, Chair Beside A Window released in 1982. The relatively wide range of Chair Beside A Window gives insight into the influences on the seemingly impenetrable Jandek sound. Hearing the blown-out harmonica bluster of 'You Think You Know How To Score' it's hard not to imagine it as the Jandek equivalent of a Dylan phase, however insanely translated.…

**very last copies** Awesome private release LP, stunning overall quality, artwork by Troglosound "Equally stirring and equally necessary for mental health are those spectacular cave recordings contained within the grooved wares of Al Doum & the Faryds’ self-titled debut LP. Released on the Italian El Guscio Records (elguscio.it), this fucking righteously Out There declaration comes on like a lobotomized Xhol Caravan meets Shiva’s Tongue meets one of those low low grade reggae recording bands li…

Second full length from NY based guitarist Turnquist, who defies expectations with a set of hypnotic epics that owe more to classic minimalism than current notions of solo guitar. Forgoing most of the extended techniques of his debut, Turnquist concentrates on laying down a thick blanket of 12 string that sets up persistent loop-like patterns in the music. Simple and lovely strings, piano, and percussion accompaniment provide the melody, carrying most of the movement in the pieces. The pa…

Shot live for TV by the legendary German music show "Rockpalast," this DVD represents the earliest example of a complete John Fahey concert performance, given on March 17, 1978. The multi-camera filming features detailed close-ups of Fahey's playing style, giving Fahey fans a rare insight into what Pete Townshend has called the William Burroughs of the guitar. Fahey's 1978 visit to Europe saw him in fine wild form, performing an 10-track set and, as an incredibly rare bonus, a short interv…

"Doubles" is the first widely-available release by Irish guitarist Cian Nugent, a showcase of major talent in an audacious setting of two side-long epics. Clearly inspired by the Takoma-classics and the recent generation of greats (Rose, Jones, etc), Cian delivers two perfectly formed takes on the classic steel-string sound, one (mostly) unaccompanied, the other an expertly arranged full-band throwdown. "Peaks & Troughs" is a slow-building solo piece in the style of Fahey's "Fare Forward …

After blowing everyone’s mind at the last Kraak Festival with an unbelievable (double) performance, and following the release of their first self titled lp, France come back with the definitive drone monument! There is still no better words to describe this unique sound, as the ones we used last year to introduce their debut cassette on 8mm last year:“Europe’s best kept secret comes from south of France, somewhere between the Rhone Alpes region and the Massif Central. Now, If you are wonde…

The latest from Sublime Frequencies is a massive cd/dvd/book set, compiled by photographer/filmmaker Olivia Wyatt on a recent trip to Ethiopia, planned to coincide with a music festival - which the government abruptly cancelled for fear of the musicians being exploited. So instead, Wyatt travelled into the bush, to compile this sonic/visual travelogue of the music and musicians, the people and places of the various tribes of Ethiopia, and it's of course breathtaking. The music, heady and…

"Although not as well known as his peers (Roy Harper, John Marytn, and Bert Jansch), the name Michael Chapman is an important one in the linage of English folk rock guitarists and singer/songwriters of the late '60s/early '70s. For those unfamiliar with Chapman's work, Roy Harper might be his closest musical cousin (and both artists were signed to EMI's seminal stoner record label Harvest -- also home to Kevin Ayers and Syd Barrett). Like other Harvest artists, Chapman's music contains a …

Amplifying Host finds Richard Youngs wandering the guitar desert somewhere between Ry Cooder's Paris, Texas score and Neil Young's work on Dead Man. Yet, the randomly determined chord movements and Youngs' stretched-out vocal passes across the record are, perhaps, more akin to Jandek's Six And Six -- here, removed from its gauze and dipped in a dark gold. When Youngs bends strings in this anglo-americana vision, it's like he's bending spoons.For more than 20 years, the UK's Richard Youngs has be…

Early Songs is the work of Glaswegian David Scott. It’s been less than five years since David starting writing music, but he’s been playing guitar for nearly 15 after hearing his first musical inspiration in the lyrical country-blues of fingerpicker Mississippi John Hurt. The second turning point for David’s work came after hearing the violin playing of The Dirty Three’s Warren Ellis. The instrumental trio prompted him to leave singing behind, pick up the fiddle and create emotive instrum…

This second collaborative work from the pair is an expansive and ambitious recasting of American music now in the public domain. The influence of the songs collected here is long and widespread for their style and lyricism, forging a rich tradition and ever evolving history. With their interpretations, Carter and Kiefer have taken the songs that have seeped into their souls and extended upon them in such a way that brings something entirely new to their original ideas. It’s something that’s enti…

"For this new Latitudes release All Tomorrow's Parties mainstay Alexander Tucker joins forces with Dean Garwood, resulting in three terrific stretched out jams. Perhaps it's got something to do with the fusion of prog influences with jazz and psychedelia, but stretches of this bring to mind the Canterbury scene of the '60s and '70s from which Robert Wyatt and Soft Machine came to prominence. 'Golden Dome' slips into a bluesy cello riff (if that's not too much of a contradiction in terms) that lo…

"The beautiful debut album by Steve Tilston was originally released by The Village Thing in 1971. Housed in a beautiful sleeve, it contained ten wonderful songs, mostly played on just acoustic guitar (plus voice, of course), which showed the great talent of a young Tilston that must have been listening to a lot of stuff by Bert Jansch, Nick Drake, or Davy Graham. Occasionally he is also accompanied by Dave Evans (guitar & vocals), Keith Warmington (harmonica & vocal), John Turner (string …

"Around the turn of the century there seemed to be a wave of guitarists versed in experimental and electronic musics who sought out ways of drawing new sounds from their instrument of choice; the likes of Fennesz, Tim Hecker, Keith Fullerton Whitman (on his still-superb Playthroughs album), Sebastien Roux and Christopher Willits were among the most notable artists in this movement, and now, at the start of a new decade, this excellent album strives to highlight the work of five emerging guitaris…

The first impression of Steve Gunn’s formal long-player debut is of a slight but varied trek through various current popular guitar modes. It has only six songs and doesn’t even break the 30-minute mark. His three experiments with songwriting come off well, but his singing is modest and his lyrics, while earnest and concise, seem a little too straightforward. For the instrumentals, he dips into drone, global string music, and Takoma-style Americana fingerpicking. So far, so familiar. But t…

RESTOCKED, FEW AVAILABLE A sublime collisions of John Fahey-esque acid guitar picking set against trance-indulged eastern raga "Abate’s 4th album stands as the zenith of his solo work to date. Opening with an acid guitar and harmonica crescendo, somewhere between the Missisipi Delta and the desert, ‘Third Dimension Blues’ turns soon into a free, deep exploration of the possibilities of Maurizio’s instrument. The love he puts on every single touch of his strings, the warmth and the beauty of thes…

"This man,I have to admit, was totally unknown to me before QBICO's owner recommended this LP to me. I searched out his name on the internet and found some very wild YouTube video of live performances....one man and his stringed instruments and harmonica. Yes, harmonica ! It sounded like Mr. Abate used treatments to make Eastern influenced drones using harmonica. I DID have to hear this one. Side A here has two cuts, Ego Trip is the first and is a beautiful Eastern tinged guitar performance, aco…

Recorded in 1970 as part of the First Biennale of Arts & Culture for the Young in Mali. The Regional Orchestra of Mopti was a state funded orchestra that participated in country-wide music festivals & competitions. A hypnotic band feat. guitars & a large horn section. A serene & droning record that is both sorrowful & celebratory. This is 1 of 6 in a series of Mali music LPs that Mississippi Records will be reissuing this summer

The second installment in VDSQ’s (Vin Du Select Qualitite) Solo Acoustic guitar series curated by STEVE LOWENTHAL of Swingset Magazine. Solo Acoustic Vol. 2 features new songs from EMERALDS guitarist MARK MCGUIRE that spark new innovations and memories thought to be lost. Packaged in letterpress sleeves with a picture of the guitar used on the recording. Limited to 500 copies, already sold out at source

Recorded live at City Hall in Glasgow in 1974, this is an extraordinary set drawing from the 2 albums of the period: "LA Turnaround" & "Santa Barbara Honeymoon"

Blue Afternoon, released in 1969, was Tim Buckley's first self-produced record and his debut for Herb Cohen and Frank Zappa's Straight record label. This was Buckley's fourth album after Tim Buckley, Goodbye and Hello, and Happy Sad. Blue Afternoon used the same group of musicians as Happy Sad, with the inclusion of drummer Jimmy Madison. Several tracks on Blue Afternoon are songs Buckley had intended to record on earlier albums but had not completed. "Chase the Blues Away" and "Happy Tim…

The MONKS OF MALASPINA debut release is a phantastical psychedelic mystery musical filled with dark woods wonder and honey comb clouds over sparkling fjords from deep within the mountains of Canada's British Columbia. Highway 101 ends here, or like this new record, begins. Members of the band call up roots from First Nation relations with Jesuit missionaries co-mingled with a diverse offspring from a free love commune started in the 1970's. Most of the music on this record is gloriousl…

Peter Walker was the quintessential psych-folk guitar player to come out of the '60s. Revered by Timothy Leary, who had him program the music for his TURN-ONS, Walker was one of the first to take the Indian tradition of ragas and channel them through the guitar into a sound that is pure heaven. His exotic, state-of-the-art finger-picking transcends description and has influenced such artists as Ben Chasny of Six Organs of Admittance.Vanguard Records originally released the record in 1966, …

another gem, a wonderful collection of obscure solo acoustic guitar tunes from the mid 60s up to the dawn of the 80s -- beautiful work from a slew of players we've never heard of -- but we'd put right up there with Fahey and Basho in the way they reach from the back porch to the cosmos with just their fingers and some strings! One thing we love about this set, and the Numero Group releases to date, is how deep they dig and what beauty they unearth, somehow with impeccable sound quality. Some tun…

Excavated Shellac is an incredible resource for rare international 78rpm recordings. With each post, shellac excavator Jonathan Ward takes great care to ensure that the transfer is as clean as possible. His blog posts always go the extra mile in placing the music within a larger cultural and historical context (on the side, JW is a professional writer and researcher). With the motto "good music is best when it's shared", JW has done just that for upwards of 100 songs that might otherwise go unhe…

Fourteen outstanding performances from the four corners of the world played on stringed instruments and recorded and released on 78rpm records circa 1920-1950. This vinyl LP features fiddles, shamisen, charango, Paraguyan harp, Indian vina, Lebanese oud, Persian violin, Vietnamese moon guitar, and more. Compiled by Jonathan Ward, all tracks are previously unreissued, carefully transferred and mastered and presented with detailed liner notes. Vinyl-only release,

“In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s, the Depression gripped the Nation. It was a time when songs were tools for living. A whole community would turn out to mourn the loss of a member and to sow their songs like seeds. This collection is a wild garden grown from those seeds.” – Tom Waits, from the Introduction Songs of death, destruction and disaster, recorded by black and white performers from the dawn of American roots recording are here, assembled together for the first time. Whether they doc…

The first anthology ever of the string bass; A 3CD box set in a cardboard box; 96-page book. Original recordings from 1925-1941, from the legendary archival label Dust-To-Digital (that previously brought the world the beyond-elaborate Goodbye, Babylon and Fonotone Records boxsets). "Not so long ago, the string bass stood tall and proud -- roughly the length and breadth of a poor man's pine coffin -- in every musical aggregation throughout the land from Bangor to Buenos Aires, from the hi…

TOP REISSUE  "My favourite Davy Graham story was told to me by a poet who gave a recital backed by the guitarist at the Edinburgh Festival in 1967. They were part of a group driving northwards in a van up the M1 motorway. Suddenly he looked at the seat next to him and, in a panic, saw that Graham had disappeared. Where to? The question was soon answered by the appearance of a pair of boot heels resting on the windscreen. Graham, who had somehow managed to climb out onto the roof of the van…

As one cog in the leaderless wheel known as the No-Neck Blues Band, Dave Shuford makes music so thoroughly unplanned that even he and his bandmates can't predict what it will sound like. NNCK don't just improvise, they don't even discuss what they're going to play, traversing many styles and moods with no safety net save the one that emerges from their collective creativity. Compared to NNCK's free-form tightrope-walk, Shuford's side project D. Charles Speer and the Helix can sound downright ris…

Absolutely incredible boxed 2LP package from the ever-wonderful Mississippi label bringing together some choice Greek Rembetica - do not miss! Always keeping listeners on their toes, Mississippi Records takes a sharp derivé into the world of underground Greek folk music, featuring 21 fascinating songs about drugs, sex, crime, poverty and heartbreak compiled by Tony Klein. Sometimes called 'Rembetica' and/or 'Greek Oriental Music', this music was the idiomatic folk outlet of Greek musicians in th…